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After Fatal Virginia Crash, Chinatown Bus Company Shut Down
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 1, 2011
Modified Jun 4, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 1, 2011
Modified Jun 4, 2011
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Yesterday, a tour bus headed to NYC overturned on I-95 in central Virginia, killing four people and injuring dozens others. The driver of that Sky Express bus, Kin Yiu Cheung, from Flushing, is now charged with reckless driving. And the US Department of Transportation has completely shut down Virginia-based Sky Express company because of numerous safety violations, in addition to the accident.
Investigators believe that Cheung was fatigued when the bus overturned at 4:55 a.m. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he "was the only person on the bus with a seat belt." Cheung is being held on $3,000 bail and is awaiting a hearing today. Sky Express issued a statement expressing condolences, adding, "This is the first serious accident involving any of its buses. The bus driver has never before been involved in an accident."
Soon after the crash yesterday, local lawmakers began publicly calling for stricter regulations on bus companies: “Right now there’s a Wild West atmosphere. With a permit system you would be able to identify every day problems as they become chronic and before they are tragic,” said Manhattan State Senator Daniel L. Squadron.
It's something they've been asking for awhile: after a bus accident in the Bronx that killed 15 people returning from Mohegan Sun casino in March, there was a dramatic increase in surprise checkpoints for tour buses across the city (all failed), and lawmakers first began asking for a bill from the Legislature.
“Locally, we can do more. Creating on a local level a permitting system would give the city information for the first time ever on who’s operating here and other background information. And it would allow the city to work more closely with the federal regulators to go after the companies that are the biggest risks,” said Squadron.
Tagged
bus
bus crash
Chinatown
chinatown bus
fatal bus crash
I-95
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virginia
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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